[www.theguardian.com]

Quite good if you like this sort of thing

It's not a bad attempt either.

Above average effort at this oft-attempted charade.

Finding it difficult to disagree with most of what's written.

Worth 10 minutes of your reading time, unlike the usual dross these lists throw up.

That's a pretty good ranking. I'd put Tattoo You quite a bit higher, but for the rest it's almost spot on.

For me Tattoo You should be higher and Dirty Work I'd put above any of the studio LP's that came after it. I know that's controversial but in DW I can hear Keith's passion to keep the band together and make an album in the traditional Stones manner. In the SW and beyond albums I only hear the need to put out an album so they can go on tour. A concept since dispensed with.

Yes, not a bad article.

Haven't read it in detail.. but at the least it's written by somebody with enough knowledge to have a valid opinion

Good article...reasonable conclusions.

To have the 89-05 albums that low is just stupid and it screams “We haven’t heard them in years”.

JumpingKentFlash

It really doesn't. One listen to them is generally enough

Quite good ranking & writing but a really conservative point of view. I think the last 3 proper studio albums - VL, BTB & ABB - have more to offer than the author suggests.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2018-05-17 20:15 by kowalski.

The problem with the later albums is not that they aren't any good. They mostly are. But they are way too long. They have great material but also b-side-worthy stuff, which should have been elbowed. As a result, they are neither fish or fowl and becomes mediocre efforts. Strong and sharp editing, could have made these albums into 40 minutes of great music. Instead we got 60+ minutes of greatness combined with 20 minutes of filler. Therefore, these albums can never be ranked very highly. They could only make Exile On Main St. one time. Blame the CD-era for it.

Agree with you, Blueranger. I was about to write the same thing. Shorten the last albums to 10-12 songs and you'll get better albums than those from the 80's...

agree with most of the list, tattoo you would be higher.

also i agree the later albums are too long, 13-16 songs from voodoo lounge to a bigger bang.

they should have been cut to 10-12 with a couple of blues covers, and a classic single maybe high wire, like a rolling stone and doom and gloom thrown in, instead of the dross that fills around half these albums.

Based on review - another Blue and Lonesome could do very well.

This assessment merely echoes mainstream consensus.

Music/rock historians will be parakeeting the same drivel 20, 30 years from now.

For the mid-60s albums, these are the British versions -- overly long, devoid of the hits that would make them rank higher: Rolling Stones Now! is forever in my top three.

Sticky and Exile, vastly overrated classic rock cliches.

The Brian Jones era is what made the legend.

Personally - I wouldn´t touch the American versions. Fake-albums. And Dirty Work? On my top ten list! That´s me.

Nice one Bjorn.

Let It Bleed No 4? C'mon man, it's pound for pound their greatest album.

Certainly better than Beggars, which for me is no 4 in the Big 4

All around decent choices and rankings (give or take a couple here and there), but he's correct with the bottom of the barrel being their most recent - most Stones fans would agree.

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Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

Emotional Rescue and Majesties are too high and Let It Bleed and Tattoo are too low, but otherwise in the general ballpark

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vertigojoe
Certainly better than Beggars, which for me is no 4 in the Big 4

Yep - me too.

1, Let It Bleed
2. Exile On Main St
3. Sticky Fingers
4, Beggars Banquet

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Bjorn
Personally - I wouldn´t touch the American versions. Fake-albums. And Dirty Work? On my top ten list! That´s me.

The American albums are not "Fake". They were assambled and overseen by Andrew Oldham and the band. They are every bit as real as the British versions. This is not The Beatles and their Capitol albums. Not even close.

I'd disagree here and there of course,
and occasionally a big difference in placement on my imagined chart,
but this feels like a real fan with a reasonably informed relationship to the catalogue, to me anyway.

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Blueranger

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Bjorn
Personally - I wouldn´t touch the American versions. Fake-albums. And Dirty Work? On my top ten list! That´s me.

The American albums are not "Fake". They were assambled and overseen by Andrew Oldham and the band. They are every bit as real as the British versions. This is not The Beatles and their Capitol albums. Not even close.

yep; totally true imo. In some ways they are as interestingly unique, in their
little, and big, ways, and as historic, as UK or Japanese releases.

Those American releases were by far their biggest market
and fan base, just by nature of the sheer size of the country and the huge
population, especially that generation; and others on the edge at both ends...
...those records sounded fantastic on every record player I heard them on;
which would very many; and absolutely contemporaneous with the original pressings and releases for North America.

Top Ten....Brian Jones(5), Mick Taylor(3), Ron Wood (2)...

STICKY FINGERS as #1 makes sense, since it is a perfect album. LET IT BLEED is 2nd in my world - but LIB and SF switch places often - because LIB is also a perfect album.

TATTOO YOU should be a lot higher - how it was made has zero relevance. It's an excellent album.

My Top 5 is identical to the list...but they also have switched places often. But only 3 have ever held top spot on my list... LIB, Sticky and Exile. I do think Black & Blue deserves a higher ranking...maybe a couple of notches.

Funny thing....expand the list to include live albums and for me at least, Ya-Ya's has been my #1 for 48 years!

Here is my top ten list:

1-4) The big four...

5) Tattoo You
6) Some Girls
7) Goat's Head Soup
8) It's only R&R
9) Black and Blue
10) Undercover

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Stoneage
Here is my top ten list:

1-4) The big four...

5) Tattoo You
6) Some Girls
7) Goat's Head Soup
8) It's only R&R
9) Black and Blue
10) Undercover

Mine would be very close if not exact to this, though I might add in Emotional Rescue in place of Undercover - that's a close call!
Each has some choice tunes, while at the same time each have some true clunkers.

_____________________________________________________________
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......